Check valve plate for shoes

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a check valve plate for shoes, comprising: a porous valve plate, which is stacked on the upper surface of a shoe sole having receiving grooves therein and thereby closes the receiving grooves, and which has elasticity; and multiple valves, which are formed inside the porous valve plate and are selectively opened/closed according to air pressure, and which are formed so as not to deviate from the thickness (t) of the porous valve plate.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a check valve plate for shoes, and moreparticularly, to a check valve plate for shoes, which suggests astructure in which valves are formed inside a porous valve plate havinga predetermined thickness (t), and the lower portions of the valves donot protrude downwardly from the porous valve plate, such that thethickness of the porous valve plate having the valves formed therein canbe minimized, and the porous valve plate can be easily applied to andused in shoes having thin soles, and thus versatility of a product canbe guaranteed.

BACKGROUND ART

As well known, shoes are means for protecting feet of a person whowalks, and are typically manufactured by using leather or syntheticresin which is not breathable. Therefore, air circulation is not wellperformed in shoes. Accordingly, shoes may have a bad odor due tosweating or moisture and may cause diseases such as athlete's foot oreczema due to the propagation of germs,

In order to solve these problems, shoes having an air-ventilation deviceinstalled therein have been developed in recent years. A typicalstructure of such air-ventilated shoes includes a pump which isinstalled inside a shoe sole, for drawing-in or discharging air, and anair suction pipe and an air discharge pipe, to which check valvesconnected with the pump are attached, and which are installed at thefront or back of shoes, such that, when a user lands while walking, airinside the shoes is drawn into the pump through the air suction pipe bythe pumping action of an elastic member installed in the pump, and isdischarged to the outside through the air discharge pipe.

However, in the case of the related-art air-ventilated shoes describedabove, since the air suction pipe is connected to a certain area of thefront or back of the shoes, only the air in a specific area is drawn inor discharged. Therefore, there is a problem that the air distributedall over the shoes cannot efficiently circulated.

As a prior art to solve the above-mentioned problems, there is disclosedKorean Patent Registration No. 10-1164463 (titled “Shoes Having AirCirculation Function”) (hereinafter, referred to as “prior art”), whichwas filed by the same applicant as the applicant of the presentapplication on Jul. 12, 2010 and registered on Jul. 4, 2012,

This prior art discloses shoes having an air circulation deviceinstalled therein, including: a sole which has a receiving groove formedon the center of the upper surface thereof, and has an air chamber, anair passage, and a passage part formed on the bottom of the receivinggroove, for discharging air; an inner cushion which is inserted into thereceiving groove of the sole to provide a high cushion force while auser is walking; an inclined adhesion protrusion which is formed alongthe outer circumference of the receiving groove of the sole and isinclined downwardly from the outside to the inside; a porous valve platewhich is stacked on the upper surface of the inner cushion and has theouter circumferential surface of the lower end thereof brought intosurface contact with the upper surface of the inclined adhesionprotrusion, thereby forming a contraction and restoring space above theinclined adhesion protrusion; a plurality of valves which protrudedownwardly from the porous valve plate, and are inserted into holesformed on the inner cushion and are selectively opened/closed accordingto contraction and restoring of the porous valve plate which is pressedby a midsole, and which discharge polluted air in the shoes to the airchamber of the sole; and the midsole and an insole which are stacked onthe upper surface of the porous valve plate in sequence, wherein themidsole and the porous valve plate are greatly contracted and restoredby weight transferred during the walking process through the contractionand restoring space, and thereby discharge the air inside the shoes tothe outside.

In the prior art as shown in FIG. 1, however, due to the downwardlyprotruding structure of the valves 3 on the porous valve plate 2, thethickness (T) of the porous valve plate 2 in which the valves 3 areformed increases and the thickness of the shoe sole 1 on which theporous valve plate 2 is installed is required to increase. Therefore,there are problems that it is difficult to apply the above-describedprior art to shoes having thin soles 1, and versatility of a product islow.

Furthermore, due to the downwardly protruding structure of the valves 3on the porous valve plate 2, a hole 4 a is formed to elastically supportthe porous valve plate 2 and simultaneously to allow the valves 3 to beinserted and fixed therein. Therefore, the thickness of the innercushion, which supports the valves 3 so as to prevent the valves 3 frombeing brought into the lower surface of the sole 1 when the porous valveplate 2 is pressed, is inevitably required to increase, and thus, thereis a problem that the sole 1 is required to have a large thickness.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE Technical Objects

The present invention has been developed in order to solve theabove-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is toprovide a check valve plate for shoes, which suggests a structure inwhich valves are formed inside a porous valve plate having apredetermined thickness (t), and the lower portions of the valves do notprotrude downwardly from the porous valve plate, such that the thicknessof the porous valve plate having the valves formed therein can beminimized, and the porous valve plate can be easily applied to and usedin shoes having thin soles, and thus versatility of a product can beguaranteed.

Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide acheck valve plate for shoes, which has a structure in which valves arenot exposed under a porous valve plate, such that, even when an innercushion for elastically supporting the porous valve plate has a smallthickness, the valves can be prevented from being brought into contactwith a sole as the porous valve plate is pressed and an opening/closingpart can be stably prevented from being opened, and thus the porousvalve plate can be easily applied to thin soles and versatility of aproduct can be guaranteed.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide acheck valve plate for shoes, which absorbs and removes an external forcetransferred to valves at tension grooves so as to prevent the valvesformed in a porous valve plate from having their shapes deformed by theinfluence of the external force even when the porous valve plate isexposed to the external force and has its shape deformed, such that thevalves can be guided to stably perform an opening/closing function.

Technical Solving Means

To achieve the above-stated objects of the present invention, a checkvalve plate for shoes according to the present invention includes: aporous valve plate which is stacked on the upper surface of a shoe solehaving receiving grooves formed therein, and thereby closes thereceiving grooves, and which has elasticity; and a plurality of valveswhich are formed inside the porous valve plate and are selectivelyopened/closed according to air pressure, and are formed so as not todeviate from a thickness (t) of the porous valve plate.

The valves may be formed inside the porous valve plate having thepredetermined thickness (t), and the lower portions of the valves maynot protrude downwardly from the porous valve plate 10, such that thethickness of the porous valve plate having the valves formed therein canbe minimized and the porous valve plate can be easily applied to andused in shoes of soles having a small thickness.

In addition, the check valve plate for shoes may include: first annulartension grooves which are formed to be spaced apart from thecircumferences of the valves toward the outside on the upper surface ofthe porous valve plate; second annular tension grooves which are formedto be spaced apart from the first tension grooves toward the outside onthe lower surface of the porous valve plate; and annular lockingprotrusions which extend downwardly from the lower portion of the porousvalve plate having the valves formed therein.

When the porous valve plate is exposed to an external force, theexternal force transmitted to the valves may be absorbed and removed bythe tension grooves, such that the valves formed in the porous valveplate are prevented from having their shapes deformed by the externalforce.

The check valve plate for shoes may further include shape deformationprevention grooves which are formed along the outer circumference of theporous valve plate, and are formed on the upper surfaces of thecircumferences of the valves.

Advantageous Effect

According to the present invention as described above, the check valveplate for shoes suggests the structure in which the valves are formedinside the porous valve plate having the predetermined thickness (t),and the lower portions of the valves do not protrude downwardly from theporous valve plate, such that the thickness of the porous valve platehaving the valves formed therein can be minimized, and the porous valveplate can be easily applied to and used in shoes having thin soles, andthus versatility of a product can be guaranteed.

Furthermore, the check valve plate for shoes absorbs and removes anexternal force transferred to the valves at the tension grooves so as toprevent the valves formed in the porous valve plate from having theirshapes deformed by the influence of the external force even when theporous valve plate is exposed to the external force and has its shapedeformed, such that the valves can stably perform an opening/closingfunction.

Furthermore, the valves are not exposed under the porous valve plate,such that, even when an inner cushion for elastically supporting theporous valve plate has a small thickness, the valves can be preventedfrom being brought into contact with the sole as the porous valve plateis pressed and the opening/closing part can be stably prevented frombeing opened, and thus the porous valve plate can be easily applied tothin soles and versatility of a product can be guaranteed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross section view of main parts of shoes having an aircirculation function, which are disclosed in an application pre-filed bythe same applicant as the applicant of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a check valve plate for shoes accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a use state view of the check valve plate for shoes shown inFIG. 2.

BEST MODE FOR EMBODYING THE INVENTION

A check valve plate for shoes according to the present inventionincludes: a porous valve plate which is stacked on the upper surface ofa shoe sole having receiving grooves therein and thereby closes thereceiving grooves, and which has elasticity; and a plurality of valveswhich are formed inside the porous valve plate and are selectivelyopened/closed according to air pressure, and which are formed so as notto deviate from the thickness (t) of the porous valve plate.

MODE FOR EMBODYING THE INVENTION

A check valve plate for shoes according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings. In the following description, well-knownfunctions or constructions are not described in detail since they wouldobscure the invention in unnecessary detail.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a check valve plate for shoes according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates aperspective view of the check valve plate for shoes according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 illustratesuse state views of the check valve plate for shoes shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in the drawings, the check valve plate 100 for shoes accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a porousvalve plate 10 and a valve 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the porous valve plate 10 may be stacked on theupper surface of a shoe sole 1 having receiving grooves 1 a therein bybonding, and thereby close the receiving grooves 1 a, and may be made ofmaterial having predetermined elasticity so as to be easy to contractand expand.

Herein, as shown in FIG. 3a for the purpose of ventilating the shoes, apassage part 5 may be formed in the periphery of the sole 1 to fluidlycommunicate with the receiving grooves 1 a and discharge air inside theshoes to the outside, and a typical check valve 6 for shoes may beinstalled at the end of the passage part 5 so as to easily discharge airflowing into the passage part 5 through the receiving grooves 1 a to theoutside, and so as to prevent external air from flowing back into thepassage part 5.

Accordingly, when the porous valve plate 10 is pressed by the weight ofa wearer while the wearer is walking, the porous valve plate 10 expandsdownwardly (is pressed) to be brought into close contact with thereceiving grooves 1 a of the sole 1, and contracts the inner spaces ofthe receiving grooves 1 a, as shown in FIG. 3A. When the press isremoved as shown in FIG. 3B, the porous valve plate 10 is restored andacts so as to expand and restore the inner spaces of the receivinggrooves 1 a.

As shown in FIG. 2, the check valve plate for shoes may further includeshape deformation prevention grooves 40 which are formed along the outercircumference of the porous valve plate 10, and are formed on the uppersurface of the porous valve plate 10 along the outer circumferences ofthe valves 20, which are formed in the porous valve plate 10 as will bedescribed below.

The shape deformation prevention grooves 40 compensate for contractionand expansion of the porous vale plate 10, which may occur during theprocess of fixing the porous valve plate 10 to the sole 1 and a midsole7 by bonding, such that the valves 20 can be prevented from beingwidened and opened as the porous valve plate 10 is expanded andstretched, or a problem which may hinder the valves 20 formed in theporous valve plate 10 from being smoothly opened as the porous valveplate 10 contracts can be prevented in advance.

As shown in FIG. 2, the valves 20 are formed inside the porous valveplate 10 in plural number, and are selectively opened/closed accordingto air pressure and are formed so as not to deviate from the thickness(t) of the porous valve plate 10.

That is, the valves 20 are formed inside the porous valve plate 10having a predetermined thickness (t), and the lower portions of thevalves 20 do not protrude downwardly from the porous valve plate 10.Therefore, compared to the thickness (T) of the porous valve plate 2including the valves 3 in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1164463(titled “Shoes Having Air Circulation Function”), which was developed bythe same applicant as the applicant of the present application, thethickness (t) of the porous valve plate 10 including the valves 20 canbe greatly reduced, such that the check valve plate 100 for shoes of thepresent invention can be easily applied to and implemented in shoeshaving thin soles, and versatility of a product can be guaranteed.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the valves 20 has predetermined elasticityand is formed in a hemispherical shape to have an upper end opened andhave an empty space therein, and one or more opening/closing parts 21are formed on the side surface of the valve 20 by cutting.

The check valve plate 100 for shoes of the present invention, whichincludes the porous valve plate and the valve as described above, may beinstalled on the sole of the shoe. When a wearer walks, the porous valveplate 10 is pressed downwardly. In this case, the receiving grooves 1 aof the sole 1 are contracted and air pressure is generated therein asshown in FIG. 3A. The opening/closing part 21 of each of the valves 20is pressed by the air pressure and is closed. Accordingly, the air inthe receiving grooves 1 a flows into the check valve 6 through thepassage part 6, and is discharged to the outside.

To the contrary, when the press to the porous valve plate 10 is removedand the porous valve plate 10 is restored as shown in FIG. 3 b, thereceiving grooves 1 a of the sole 1 expands. In this case, external airflows into the shoes due to an air suction force, which is generated inthe process of expanding the receiving grooves 1 a, and flows to theupper portions of the valves 20 and flows into the receiving grooves 1 athrough the opening/closing parts 21 of the valves 20. In this case, theopening/closing part 21 of each of the valves 20 is naturally widenedand opened by the inflow of air pressure, such that air flows into thereceiving grooves 1 a.

As shown in FIG. 2, the porous valve plate 10 may further include: afirst annular tension groove 31 which is formed to be spaced apart fromthe circumference of each of the valves 20 toward the outside on theupper surface of the porous valve plate 10; and a second annular tensiongroove 32 which is formed to be spaced apart from the first tensiongroove 31 toward the outside on the lower surface of the porous valveplate 10. Therefore, the valves 20 are configured in the form of typicalbellows.

That is, the porous valve plate 10 is continuously pressed by the weightof a wearer while the wearer is walking. In this case, when a pressingforce is transferred to the valves 20 formed in the porous valve plate10, and the opening/closing part 21 of each of the valves 20 has itsshape deformed and is opened, air is not smoothly circulated in theshoes. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3A, the tension grooves 31 and 32formed on the outside of the valves 20 in the form of typical bellowsreceive the transferred force, and are induced to have their shapesdeformed, such that the force transferred to the tension grooves 31 and32 is naturally removed and thus the valves 20 is not influenced by theexternal force.

As shown in FIG. 2, the check valve plate 100 may further includeannular locking protrusions 33 which are formed on the lower portion ofthe porous valve plate 10 in which the valves 20 are formed, for beinginserted into holes 4 a of the inner cushion 4.

The locking protrusions 33 guide the valves 20 to be securely fixed inplace to fluidly communicate with the holes 4 a of the inner cushion 4during the process in which the porous valve plate 10 expands and isrestored, and, as shown in FIG. 3A, the locking protrusions 33 guideexternal air to flow into the holes 4 a of the inner cushion 4 throughthe valves 20 and to be stably transferred to the receiving grooves 1 aof the sole 1.

When the porous valve plate 10 is pressed and descends and is broughtinto contact with the sole 1, the locking protrusions 33 support thevalves 20 and guide to prevent the opening/closing part 21 of each ofthe valves 20 from having its shape deformed and being opened.

Herein, in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1164463 (titled “ShoesHaving Air Circulation Function”) developed before by the same applicantas the applicant of the present application, the inner cushion 4 forsupporting the porous valve plate 2 is manufactured to have a largethickness in order to prevent the valves 3 protruding downwardly fromthe porous valve plate 2 from being brought into contact with the sole1. However, in the check valve plate 100 for shoes of the presentinvention, the valves 20 do not protrude downwardly from the porousvalve plate 10, such that the check valve plate 100 can be manufacturedto have a small thickness and can be easily applied to shoes having thinsoles.

The check valve plate 100 for shoes of the present invention configuredas described above suggests the structure in which the valves 20 areformed inside the porous valve plate 10 having the predeterminedthickness (t), and the lower portions of the valves 20 do not protrudedownwardly from the porous valve plate 10, such that the thickness ofthe porous valve plate 10 having the valves 20 formed therein can beminimized, and the constitution (feature) of the check valve plate 100for shoes of the present invention can be easily applied to and used inshoes having thin soles, and thus versatility of a product can beguaranteed.

Furthermore, the check valve plate 100 for shoes has the structure inwhich the valves 20 are not exposed under the porous valve plate 10,such that, even when the inner cushion 40 for elastically supporting theporous valve plate 10 is formed to have a small thickness, the valves 20can be prevented from being brought into contact with the sole 1 as theporous valve plate 10 is pressed, and the opening/closing part 21 can bestably prevented from being opened, and thus the check valve plate 100can be easily applied to shoes having thin soles and versatility of aproduct can be guaranteed.

In addition, the check valve plate 100 for shoes absorbs and removes anexternal force transferred to the valves 20 at the tension grooves 31and 32, which are formed in the form of bellows, so as to prevent thevalves 20 formed in the porous valve plate 10 from having their shapesdeformed by the influence of the external force even when the porousvalve plate 10 is exposed to the external force and has its shapedeformed, such that the valves 20 are guided to stably perform anopening/closing function.

The check valve plate 100 for shoes having the above-describedconstitution according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention is installed on the shoe sole 1 and continuously circulatesair as follows.

First, when the porous valve plate 10 is pressed downwardly and isexpanded by the weight of a walker during the walk as shown in FIG. 3A,the inner spaces of the receiving grooves 1 a of the sole 1 arecontracted and air pressure is generated therein. Since theopening/closing part 21 of each of the valves 20 is pressed and closedby the air pressure, the air in the receiving grooves 1 a flows into thecheck valve 6 through the passage part 5 and thus is discharged to theoutside.

Thereafter, when the press is removed and the porous valve plate 10 isrestored as shown in FIG. 3B, the inner spaces of the receiving grooves1 a of the sole 1 expand, and external air flows into the shoes due toan air suction force, which is generated during the process in which theinner spaces of the receiving grooves 1 a expand, flows to the upperportions of the valves 20, and then flows into the receiving grooves 1 athrough the opening/closing parts 21 of the valves 20. In this case, theopening/closing parts 21 of the valves 20 are naturally widened andopened by the inflow of air pressure, such that the air flows into thereceiving grooves 1 a.

Accordingly, the porous valve plate 10 is continuously expanded andrestored by the weight of the walker during the walk, and air in theshoes is discharged to the outside and external air flows into the shoesas much as discharged air, such that ventilation can be smoothlyperformed in the shoes.

While the invention has been described with reference to certainpreferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the embodiments aremerely examples and are not limited to the above-described embodiments,and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variouschanges can be made and other equivalent embodiments can be providedbased on the descriptions provided herein. In addition, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention isdefined not by the detailed description of the invention but by theappended claims and the technical idea thereof.

1. A check valve plate for shoes, comprising: a porous valve plate whichis stacked on the upper surface of a shoe sole having receiving grooves1 a formed therein, and thereby closes the receiving grooves, and whichhas elasticity; a plurality of valves which are formed inside the porousvalve plate and are selectively opened/closed according to air pressure,and are formed so as not to deviate from a thickness of the porous valveplate, and wherein the valves are formed inside the porous valve platehaving the predetermined thickness, and the lower portions of the valvesdo not protrude downwardly from the porous valve plate, such that thethickness of the porous valve plate having the valves formed therein canbe minimized and the porous valve plate can be easily applied to andused in shoes of soles having a small thickness.
 2. The check valveplate for shoes of claim 1, further comprising: first annular tensiongrooves which are formed to be spaced apart from the circumferences ofthe valves toward the outside on the upper surface of the porous valveplate; second annular tension grooves which are formed to be spacedapart from the first tension grooves toward the outside on the lowersurface of the porous valve plate; and annular locking protrusions whichextend downwardly from the lower portion of the porous valve platehaving the valves formed therein, and wherein, when the porous valveplate is exposed to an external force, the external force transmitted tothe valves is absorbed and removed by the tension grooves and, such thatthe valves formed in the porous valve plate are prevented from havingtheir shapes deformed by the external force.
 3. The check valve platefor shoes of claim 1, further comprising shape deformation preventiongrooves which are formed along the outer circumference of the porousvalve plate, and are formed on the upper surfaces of the circumferencesof the valves.